Wiper element for cleaning motor vehicle windows

ABSTRACT

The invention if based on a wiper blade for cleaning windows ( 10 ) of motor vehicles, having a wiper strip ( 16 ) retained by a support bracket system ( 12, 14 ). At least one gutter ( 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 74, 76, 78 ) oriented in the longitudinal direction ( 18, 20 ) is disposed directly or indirectly on the support bracket system ( 12, 14 ) and conducts water outward of a main viewing field.

PRIOR ART

The invention is based on a wiper blade for cleaning motor vehiclewindows.

Known windshield or window wipers have a wiper arm, which is constructedof a fastening part, secured to a drive shaft, a link part joined to itvia a toggle joint, and a wiper rod rigidly adjoining the link part. Thewindshield wiper also has a wiper blade, which has a support bracketsystem and a wiper strip retained by the support bracket system. Thewiper blade is pivotably connected to the wiper arm by the provisionthat a hooklike end of the wiper rod engages between two side cheeks ofthe support bracket system and includes a link bolt. The joint thusformed guides the wiper blade with the wiper strip over a motor vehiclewindow; the link part and the support bracket system make it possiblefor the wiper strip to adapt to a curvature of the motor vehicle window.A requisite contact pressure of the wiper strip on the motor vehiclewindow is attained with at least one tension spring, which tenses thefastening part and the link part jointly with the wiper rod, via thetoggle joint.

The wiper strip comprises an elastomer. It has a head strip, which isjoined via a tilted rib to a wiper lip that rests on the window to bewiped. By means of the tilting rib, at the turning point of the wipermotion the wiper strip can flip over in the opposite direction, so thatit always assumes a favorable angle to the windshield. If the windshieldwiper is actuated, the wiper strip slides with the wiper lip over themotor vehicle window. When the motor vehicle is in motion, a relativewind flows under the wiper arm and the wiper blade and generates a forcecounter to the contact pressure of the tension spring. Especially athigh speeds, the relative wind can reduce the contact pressure of thewiper blade on the windshield so much that the wiper blade will liftfrom the windshield and float on a film of water, or that the wiper lipof the wiper strip will be blown over. This causes jittering of thewiper blade on the windshield and makes the cleaning quality inadequate.

It is known to secure a wind deflector in the downward wiping directionin front of the wiper blade on the driver's side; this wind deflectorconducts the relative wind over the wiper blade and thus presses thewiper blade against the vehicle window. To prevent the relative windfrom flowing under the wind deflector and causing wind noises andreducing the contact pressure, the wind deflector should be disposedwith a lower edge as close as possible to the windshield. The closer thespacing between the wind deflector and the windshield, the better therelative wind is carried over the wiper blade, but also the sooner thewind deflector comes into contact with the windshield, for instance atvarious influential variables that occur together, such as play betweenindividual components, deformation of individual components because of astrong relative wind, and so forth.

From German Patent DE 195 28 015 C1, a wiper blade with a wind deflectoris known on which an elastic wind conducting element is secured; thiselement is disposed approximately parallel to the wiper lip, near thewindshield, and is elastically braced or is elastically deformable insuch a way that at higher vehicle speeds, and at the relative wind, itpresses against on the windshield, at least in a wiping region.

Water, such as rainwater or cleaning fluid from the windshield washernozzles, and so forth that strikes the support bracket system and/or thewind deflector and adheres to it is often blown by the relative windduring wiping onto an area of the windshield that is already been wipedand thus hinders the view.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, at least one gutter oriented in thelongitudinal direction is disposed directly or indirectly on a supportbracket system and conducts water outward of a main viewing field. Waterstriking the wiper blade and already adhering to it is blown by therelative wind into the gutter and inside it is blown outward in thelongitudinal direction out of the viewing field, specifically toward theend that points upward during wiping. The water is carried outward in apurposeful way, and areas of the windshield that have already been wipedremain free of water adhering to the wiper blade, and the view isimproved.

Wind deflectors have a large closed surface area, which compared to asupport bracket system is struck by larger quantities of water. Inaddition, in both the downward wiping motion and the upward wipingmotion, the wind deflector conducts the relative wind over the supportbracket system. Particularly in the downward wiping motion, water fromthe wind deflector is blown onto the cleaned windshield. It is thereforeespecially advantageous that at least one gutter is disposed on the winddeflector. Water primarily strikes a front side facing into the relativewind. The relative wind blows the water more or less, depending on theposition of the wiper, into an upper region of the wind deflector thatis remote from the window. In one feature of the invention, the gutteris disposed in the upper region of the wind deflector, as much aspossible on its uppermost edge, or else the gutter forms the uppermostedge of the wind deflector. The less area there is remaining toward thetop downstream of the gutter, the more completely can the water beconducted on the wind deflector into the gutter and outward, and thatmuch less water is blown from a still remaining area above the gutteronto the already-cleaned windshield.

Sometimes water can reach an inside of the wind deflector facing awayfrom the relative wind, primarily via a lower edge, facing toward thewindshield, for instance from a stream of water from a windshield washerduring wiping. To prevent this water from passing from the inside intothe main viewing field of the windshield, it is proposed that at leastone gutter be disposed on the inside of the wind deflector. In the lowerregion of the wind deflector and/or in the upper region of the winddeflector, the water can be caught with a gutter and conducted to theoutside.

In one feature, the gutter is disposed on an upper edge of the winddeflector, on the side facing away from the window, and protrudes in thedirection of the support bracket system past the inside of the winddeflector and in the direction away from the support bracket system itprotrudes past the front side of the wind deflector. With a gutter,water can advantageously be caught from the front side and from theinside and conducted outward. This dispenses with a second, additionalcomponent for a gutter on the inside.

The gutter can be secured to the support bracket system or to the winddeflector by nonpositive, positive and/or material engagement, forinstance via a plug-type, clamping, adhesive, and/or welded connection.Especially advantageously, however, the gutter is embodied integrallywith the support bracket system and/or with the wind deflector. Thisdispenses with additional components, assembly steps, and expense. Thegutter can be formed by a protrusion that protrudes past the surface ofthe wind deflector, or by an indentation made in the surface. With anindentation, there is economy of both material and weight. Moreover, thewind deflector can be embodied in a streamlined fashioned, with onlyslight turbulence at the gutter.

In a further feature, it is proposed that instead of one gutter, aplurality of gutters be made in the surface of the front side of thewind deflector by indentations. Each of the gutters then has to carryless water outward and as a result can be especially small andstreamlined in form. The gutters can be formed onto the wind deflectorduring casting or can be made later, for instance by metal-cuttingmachining, or with a heat source or ultrasound source, and so forth.

To prevent water from being blown out of the gutter by the relativewind, the gutter is closed in the direction facing away from or in thedirection of the window.

DRAWING

Further advantages will become apparent from the ensuing drawingdescription. In the drawing, exemplary embodiments of the invention areshown. The drawing, description and claims contain numerouscharacteristics in combination. One skilled in the art will expedientlyconsider the characteristics individually as well and combine them intoappropriate further combinations.

Shown are:

FIG. 1, a wiper blade from above;

FIG. 2, an enlarged detail of a wiper blade of FIG. 1 from the side;

FIG. 3, a section along the line III—III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4, a wiper blade with a wind deflector from above;

FIG. 5, an enlarged detail of a wiper blade of FIG. 4 from the side;

FIG. 6, a section along the line VI—VI of FIG. 4; and

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, variants of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a wiper blade, which has a support bracket system 12with a main bracket 70, which is pivotably connected to intermediatebrackets 82, 84, on whose ends claw brackets 86, 88, 90 are pivotablyconnected. A wiper strip 16 is secured in retaining claws 92 of the clawbrackets 86, 88, 90. According to the invention, a gutter 22 oriented inthe longitudinal direction 18, 20 is disposed on the support bracketsystem 12, specifically on the main bracket 70. Gutters can also bedisposed on the intermediate brackets and on the claw brackets.

Water striking and adhering to the main bracket 70 is blown by therelative wind 44 into the gutter 22 and in it outward, out of the mainviewing field, to the upper-pointing end of the main bracket 70. Thegutter 22 is disposed in the upper region, on the side facing away fromthe windshield 10, and it is closed in the direction 72 remote from thewindow 10, so that no water can be blown out of the gutter 22 over thewiper blade (FIG. 3).

In a wiper system having only one wiper arm, a single-arm wiper inoperation pivots from one side of the windshield 10 through a middleposition to another side, and in the process is attacked by relativewind 44 equally from both sides, crosswise to its longitudinaldirection. Particularly in a single-arm wiper, gutters 22, 74 areadvantageously disposed on both sides of the main bracket 70, in theupper region facing away from the windshield 10, as shown in FIG. 3.With gutters 76, 78 disposed in the lower region of the main bracket 70,these gutters being closed in the direction 80, water can also be caughtand conducted outward out of the main viewing field; this water flows onthe main bracket 70 in the direction 80 of the windshield 10, forinstance the downward wiping direction in the case of a single-armwiper. The gutters 22, 74, 76, 78 are embodied integrally with the mainbracket 70. This economizes on additional components, assembly steps andexpenses.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show a wiper blade with a wind deflector 36. The winddeflector 36 is supported on a support bracket system 14 via fasteningelements 54, 56, 58, 60. The support bracket system 14 has a mainbracket 100, intermediate brackets 102, 104, and claw brackets 106, 108,110 with retaining claws 112. To gently cushion the impact of the winddeflector 36 on the windshield 10, an elastic lip 98 is secured to thewind deflector 36 (FIGS. 5 and 6) on the side facing toward thewindshield 10. The wind deflector 36 extends in the longitudinaldirection 18, 20 over virtually the entire length of the wiper blade andthus covers the support bracket system 14 of the wiper blade.

In a windshield wiper system with two wiper arms, the wind deflector 36is preferably secured to both or only to the support bracket system 14on the driver's side. In known windshield wiper systems, the wiperblades are disposed in their parking positions side-by-side in the lowerregion on the windshield 10. The wiper arms pivot not at all or onlyslightly past a vertical position and as a result experience therelative wind 44 from only one side in their downward and upward wipingmotions crosswise to their length. The wind deflector 36 is secured tothe wiper blade on this side of the wiper blade, ahead of the wiperblade in the downward wiping motion, and presses the wiper blade againstthe windshield 10 over the entire wiping radius. In principle, a winddeflector can also be secured to a single-arm wiper.

According to the invention, in the longitudinal direction 18, 20 of thewind deflector 36, a gutter 24 is disposed in the upper region, on theside facing away from the windshield 10, on a front side 46 (FIG. 6).Water striking and adhering to the wind deflector 36 is blown into thegutter 24 and in it outward out of the main viewing field, to theupward-pointing end of the wind deflector 36. In the direction 72 facingaway from the window 10, the gutter 24 is closed, so that no water canbe blown out of the gutter 24 over the wiper blade (FIG. 6). Inaddition, on an inside 62 of the wind deflector 36 in the lower region,on the side facing the windshield 10, a second gutter 26 is provided, byway of which water that has reached the inside 62 is conducted outward.Like the gutter 24, the gutter 26 is closed in the direction 72 facingaway from the windshield 10, to prevent water from being blown onto thecleaned windshield 10 via the gutter 26 and over the wiper blade. Bothgutters 24, 26 are embodied integrally with the wind deflector 36. Thisdispenses with additional components.

In FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, variants of a wiper blade with a wind deflector 38,40 and 42 and with gutters 28, 30, 32, 34 of FIG. 6, disposed in thelongitudinal direction 18, 20 (FIG. 5), are shown. Components thatremain the same are all identified by the same reference numerals. Agutter 28 is mounted on an upper edge 68 of the wind deflector 38, onthe side facing away from the window 10; this gutter protrudes in thedirection of the support bracket system 14 past the inside 64 of thewind deflector 38 and in the direction remote from the support bracketsystem, it protrudes past the front side 48 of the wind deflector 38(FIG. 7). Water striking the wind deflector 38 and adhering is blownupward in the direction 72 through openings 94, 96 into the gutter 28 bythe relative wind 44. With a gutter 28, water from the inside 64 andfrom the front side 48 can advantageously be conducted outward, out ofthe main viewing field.

The wind deflector 40 in FIG. 8 has gutters 30, 32 on the front side 50and on the inside 66 in the upper region, on the side facing away fromthe windshield 10. The gutters 30, 32 are formed, instead of byprotrusions, by indentations in the surface of the wind deflector 40.Standard wind deflectors can be used and retrofitted with gutters 30,32. The wind deflector 40 can furthermore be embodied in an especiallystreamlined way and, by using less material, can be lightweight andeconomical.

Instead of disposing only one relatively large gutter 30 on the winddeflector 40 on the front side 50, a plurality of smaller gutters 34 canbe made in the surface of the wind deflector 42, on the front side 52,as shown in FIG. 9. The wiper blades shown in FIGS. 1-309, having thegutters 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 74, 76, 78 represent only oneselection among the possible variants, and in particular the gutters 22,24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 74, 76, 78 can be combined with one another andmounted on a wind deflector and/or on a support bracket system.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wiper blade assembly for cleaning a mainviewing field of windshields (10) of motor vehicles, said assemblycomprising a wiper strip (16) retained by a support bracket system (14),an elongated wind deflector (38) for directing wind is secured to thesupport bracket system (14) and defines opposing outer (48) and inner(64) sides and opposing upper (68) and lower edges thereon, said outerside faces away from said support bracket system and said inner sidefaces towards said support bracket system, a hollow gutter member (28)is disposed on said upper edge and protrudes past said outer and innersides, said gutter member includes openings therethrough on both sidesof said deflector such that water striking the wind deflector andadhering thereto can be blown upward and through said openings and intothe hollow of the gutter by the wind, wherein water collected in saidhollow can be conducted outwardly and away from the main viewing field.